It never ceases to amaze me how absolutely out of touch
President Trump is. Using government workers as pawns
has been done before. What amazes me the most are
statements he has uttered about understanding and feeling
these families economic pain.

Mr. President, I hate to be a bright red, blinking alarm in
your “border crisis”, but according to polling, 75% of middle
income families in our country are living one or two paychecks
from homelessness. I am not sure about some of you out
there, but I have never been able to have the recommended
3 months salary in savings. It always seemed that a car needed
tires or a house needed a new water heater and any savings
evaporated.

All eleven years in the Navy, my family qualified for food
stamps. I suspect that many current government employees
and their families share in economic hardships even when
they are receiving a paycheck. Living the “American Dream”
is, to many families, a juggling act of rent/mortgages, car
loans, phone, electric services – not to mention student loan
debt.

This time will somehow pass and I have no doubt our President
will take all the credit. As always, he will reinstate negotiation
items that he pulled the plug on in the beginning. This is no way
to run our representative democracy. We didn’t elect our leaders
to stroke their shallow egos. With our votes we deserve their
service for our country’s best interests.